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Saturday, December 17, 2016

Author Saturday Spotlight: LD Blakeley #Interview #Giveaway

Happy Saturday Author Spotlight day everyone! It's my favorite day of the week! With the holidays fast approaching it's been so exciting seeing all the Christmas stories out there! The author spotlight today, LD Blakeley has a wonderful Christmas story: The Power of Peppermint. We will take a look at that festive book and some of her other works, we have an interview, and of course a wonderful giveaway! So get your cocoa and join us!

The Power of Peppermint

The most wonderful time of the year?

When
Jamison Pritchett is roped into replacing the mall photographer at
Santa’s Village a week before Christmas, he’s certain he’ll be spending
the holidays recovering from a nervous breakdown. A throng of
sugar-frenzied kids might be enough to send this uptight photographer
back into the darkroom permanently. Inappropriate thoughts about his
far-too-attractive—and far-too-young—assistant aren’t helping fight that
urge to hide, either.

For
Noah Hawkins, adulting is a snap. Too bad relationships aren’t. With
his business temporarily closed for repairs, he’s happy to help his
sister out of a jam, even if the costume he’s given to wear borders on
obscene. Constantly being mistaken for a teenager is no treat either,
especially when he discovers his temporary new co-worker is sexy as hell
and 15 years his senior.

Can
Noah convince Jamison that age is just a number? Or will Jamison resist
the gift Santa seems to be handing him on a platter?

Parker's Profile

Parker
Knowles needs a date. No, really. If he can’t find one by Valentine’s
Day, he’s agreed to let his sister fix him up. And quite frankly, he’d
rather chew off his own arm than go out with someone of his sister’s
choosing.

Internet
phenom, Lane Steadman, has offered to show Parker the art of the
perfect selfie. After all, an outstanding dating profile is useless
without a topnotch photo, right?

Can love really be found on the Internet? Or is a real-world connection closer to Parker than he thinks?

Opportunity Knocks (Laissez Faire #1)

Small-town
security guard, Gill Martin, has lived in Mystique Pointe his entire
life. His dating prospects are non-existent and he doesn’t particularly
like his job, but at least it’s better than unemployment. Besides, he
hasn’t got any better ideas.

Big-city
artist, Tommy Hearne, knows exactly what he wants out of life: a
successful art career and a successful relationship. He also knows that
living in Liberty City is his best chance for pursuing both.
Unfortunately, for him, neither of these pursuits seem to be panning out
quite to his liking.

When
Tommy and his misfit band of friends roll into town for the Laissez
Faire, Mystique Pointe’s annual music & art festival, worlds
definitely collide. A fiery tryst sparks more than just a lust
connection, but what happens when the weekend is over?

Interview

Thank you, LD, for
being the spotlight author this week! I’m so excited to have you here and to
have the opportunity to talk with you a bit. It won’t be painless, I promise.

Thanks for the invitation. Okay, I’m caffeinated. Hit me!

How much of your real
life do you put into your books?

There are bits and pieces all over them. I tend to have a
notebook in my purse and a dozen or so GoogleKeep notes on the go at all times,
so dialogue sometimes comes directly from conversations I’ve had or overheard. I’m
Canadian and our way of speaking tends to be a bit … colourful (we don’t say
‘aboot’ but we do say ‘eh’… or ‘hey’ depending on which part of the country
you’re visiting.) It’s especially creative
in the Maritimes, where I’m from. And Toronto, where I’ve lived for the past 20
years, is incredibly multicultural so there are a lot speech patterns and peculiarities that lend
themselves well to creating three-dimensional characters.

What character that
you’ve written would you say is most like you?

Probably Jamison, my MC in The Power of Peppermint. I can be a bit tightly wound like he is
and I tend to have moments where I think, “good lord, but I’m old.” I also have a fondness for photography – it’s
been a hobby since journalism school, though I’m no pro like Jamison.

Which character is
the least like you?

Lane Steadman in Parker’s
Profile. I can’t take a decent selfie for love nor money.

You’re a horror movie
fan! What are some of your favorite horror movies?

Oh boy... there are so many! And I’m all over the board with
them, too. I love 80s horror, even the cheesy ones (A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, Evil Dead, An American Werewolf
in London, Hellraiser). Then there are the more classic ones like Rosemary's Baby, Night of the Living Dead,
The Wicker Man (the original 1973 version.) The Exorcist still scares the hell out of me. Or, if we're talking
current(ish), I loved Let the Right One
In, The Conjuring, 28 Days Later, Ginger Snaps. Comedy? Shaun of the Dead, Zombieland, Cabin in the
Woods (because Joss Whedon), Army of
Darkness. Oh, and I'm a big Rob Zombie fan. I was even lucky enough to
attend the midnight TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) screening of Witches of Salem that he, his wife, and
several cast members attended. Yep, I knew my answer would turn into a bit of a
ramble. LOL.

What would be the
perfect way to spend an evening?

This time of year? At home with my husband, my cat, a bottle
of red, and good movie. If I’m home by myself, then curled up with the cat, the
bottle, and something yummy to read.

Do you have authors
that are one-clicks for you? Who?

Off the top of my head: Neil Gaiman, Damon Suede, Margaret Atwood.
I get a bit one-click happy at times; the folks at the ‘zon have certainly catered
to the impulse shopper in all of us, haven’t they?

With 2016 just about
over what are you going to remember most about it?

2016 was a bit of a nightmare, wasn’t it? I think everyone I
know is more than ready for 2017. Despite all the negative, though, I’ll
remember 2016 most for being the year that my novella, Parker’s Profile, came out with Evernight Publishing and was subsequently
translated and published in both German (Me & The Muse Publishing) and
French (Juno Publishing.)

Can you tell us what
you’re currently working on?

I just released my first self-published title, The Power of Peppermint, on Wednesday.
I’m now working on edits/rewrites for a magical realism MM romance that I
started during last year’s NaNoWriMo. And I’ve got books 2 and 3 of my Laissez Faire series on the go as well.
Book 1 (Opportunity Knocks) came out
the summer before last, then I got sidetracked with afew other WIPs and left the boys hanging.

What book or series
of yours would you love to do a crossover with with another author? What series
or book of theirs?

I’d love to write something completely new that I could
crossover into Damon Suede’s Bad Idea
(Itch) universe or TJ Klune’s Tell Me Its Real (At First Sight)
universe. I love funny and hot and those guys meld the two together so
seamlessly.

FAST FIRE QUESTIONS:

Red or white wine?
Red. But if you offer me white, I certainly wouldn’t refuse. That’d just be
rude. ;-)

Favorite childhood
book? The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton (I discovered & read it 3 times in
the 6th grade.)